Obama Folds Again To Republican Pressure

I'm getting so tired of President Obama (and many of his Democratic cohorts in Congress) running scared of the clueless and publicly unpopular congressional Republicans. They have caved-in so many times that's it's starting to look like a habit they can't break. They did it on the health care reform, on regulations for Wall Street, on extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich, on the 2011 budget, and most recently on raising the debt ceiling (where Republicans got nearly everything they asked for and Democrats got nothing).

Being generally an optimist, I had hoped that maybe Obama had learned his lesson after seeing how the rank-and-file Democrats had reacted to the debt ceiling "compromise". Before that debacle 50% of Democrats were already thinking that the president and congressional Democrats were doing a poor job of upholding Democratic values. After Obama and the congressional Democrats caved-in, that figure rose to 61%. Democrats were getting exasperated with the failure to fight for hurting Americans.

But that turned out to be a forlorn hope. The president doesn't seem to care what his base thinks when it comes to pacifying Republicans. He still thinks that if he gives in enough times, the Republicans will actually compromise on something (even though their actions have proven over and over that it'll never happen). This time it was on the environment.

The EPA had come out with new ozone standards for the air that all Americans must breathe.. Once again this was something that a majority of Americans supported, with poll after poll showing that most Americans want the government to do what it needs to do to protect the air and water in the United States. The new EPA rules, called the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards, would have been a step in the right direction. It would have required polluters to abide by a stricter standard and improve air quality.

But the Republicans are so against requiring polluting corporations to spend any money to clean up their polluting ways that they have even tried to abolish the EPA -- regardless of the health effects that would have on Americans. So Obama is once again trying to appease them. He has ordered the EPA to suspend putting into effect the new air quality standards -- delaying any action until the standards can be "reconsidered" in 2013.

Frankly, this latest cave-in has made me wonder if the president's upcoming job plan will even be worth considering. Will it be a bold plan to stimulate jobs? Or will it be a timid plan containing new tax breaks for the rich? I'm afraid it will be the latter, even though a new SurveyUSA Poll shows that 81% of 2008 Obama voters want him to lay out a broad and bold plan and hold Republicans accountable if they block it.

Personally, I doubt that the president, and too many congressional Democrats, have the will or the ability to stand up to the Republicans. Their timidity is starting to be offensive.